General Gordon regretted that no one had told him when he was a young man that there was a Holy Spirit which he could possess and which could possess him. The knowledge would have saved him weakness, and sorrow , and loss. But when the later loneliness came, Gordon knew the inner strengthening of the Spirit. A power not his own came to his help. He was “strengthened with all power” (Colossians 1:1 1).

This is the apostle’ s sense of the magnitude of the Spirit. There is nothing we can need at any time of pressure, whether of duty or of danger , of temptation or of anxiety , but the Divine Ally will make Himself the resource of the soul to meet and endure the strain.

The apostle urges that the utmost room should be made for the Spirit; that a man possess the Divine gift in its utmost measur e. He seems to suggest that there are degrees of possession; there are measurements we make, limitations we impose, and in his eager way he urges that we make the utmost room for the Spirit’ s fullness. Do not go in for small measur es; do not restrict your allowance. The gift of the Spirit is not on a rationing basis. Do not confine yourself to mean and petty degrees of the Spirit. “Be filled with the Spirit.” There is no surfeit here, nor need there be any restriction. “T HE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN ” BY JOHN MACBEATH

There are deep things of God. Push out fr om shor e,

Hast thou found much? Give thanks and look for mor e.

Dost fear the gener ous Giver to offend?

Then know His stor e of bounty hath no end.

He doth not need to be implor ed or teased;

The mor e we take the better He is pleased.

Beside the common inheritanc e of the land, there are some special possessions. A. B. S IMPSON

“Have ye r eceived the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” (Acts 19:2 KJV)

Christmas Evans, a Welsh preacher of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, once wrote the following account in his diary.

“One Sunday afternoon I was traveling by horseback to an appointment. Suddenly as I went along a very lonely road, I was convicted of having a cold heart. I dismounted, tethered my horse to a tree, and found a secluded spot. Then, walking back and forth in agony, I reviewed my life. I waited before God in brokenness and sorrow for three hours. Finally a sweet sense of His forgiving love broke over me, and I received a fresh filling of His Holy Spirit.

“As the sun was setting, I walked back to the road, found my horse, and rode on to my appointment. The following day I preached with so much new power, to a vast gathering of people on a hillside, that revival broke out and ultimately spread through all of Wales.”

This explains the great question of the born-again—the password of the early church—“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2).

Oh, the Spirit-filled life; is it thine, is it thine?

Is your soul wholly filled with the Spirit Divine?

As a child of the King, has He fallen on thee?

Does He reign in your soul, so that all men may see

The dear Savior’s blest image reflected in thee?

Has He swept through your soul like the waves of the sea?

Does the Spirit of God daily rest upon thee?

Does He sweeten your life, does He keep you from care?

Does He guide you and bless you in answer to prayer?

Is your joy to be led of the Lord ev’rywhere?

Is He near you each hour, does He stand at your side?

Does He clothe you with strength, has He come to abide?

Does He teach you to know that all things may be done

Through the grace and the power of the Crucified One?

Does He witness to you of the glorified Son?

Has He purified you with the fire from above?

Is He first in your thoughts, does He have all your love?

Is His service your choice, and your sacrifice sweet?

Is your doing His will both your drink and your meat?

Do you run at His calling with glad eager feet?

Has He freed you from self and from all of your greed?

Do you hasten to comfort your brother in need?

As a soldier of Christ does your power endure?

Is your hope in the Lord everlasting and sure?

Are you patient and meek, are you tender and pure?

Oh, the Spirit-filled life may be thine, may be thine,

Ever in your soul Shechinah glory may shine;

It is yours to live with the tempests all stilled,

It is yours with God’s blest Holy Spirit to be filled;

It is yours, even yours, for your Lord has so willed.